Influencing GovernmentChapter 11

Public Opinion(Section 1)

• Public opinion includes the ideas and attitudes that most people hold about elected officials, candidates, government, and political issues.

• The President needs to support of the public to carry out Presidential programs.

Public Opinion (Cont.)

• Public opinion is not uniform.

• Many shades of opinions exist on most issues.

• Enough people must hold a particular opinion to make government officials listen to them.

• People’s backgrounds and life experiences influence their opinions.

Mass Media• Television, radio, newspapers, magazines,

recordings, movies, and books are called the mass media because they communicate broadly to masses of people.

• Issues and events the mass media cover and the way they cover them affect people’s attitudes.

Public Officials

• Political leaders and public officials influence public opinion.

• They state their views in the mass media, hoping to persuade people to support their positions.

Interest Groups

• People who share a point of view about an issue may form an interest group.

• The group works to persuade people and officials toward their point of view.

Why does public opinion help shape the decisions of every

president?

Components of Public Opinion• Experts often describe public opinion in terms of

direction, intensity, and stability.

1. Direction refers to whether opinions on a topic are positive or negative, for or against.

2. Intensity refers to the strength of opinion on an issue.

3. Stability means how firmly people hold their views.

• Public opinion on candidates is relatively unstable.

Measuring Public Opinion

• Election results give a broad measure of public opinion.

• A more accurate measure comes from asking people to answer questions in a survey, or public opinion poll.

• Elected officials use polls to monitor public opinion.

• Most presidents have a pollster–a specialist whose job is to conduct polls regularly.

Random Samples

• Polling organizations question people selected at random from all over the United States.

• To present a fairly accurate picture of public opinion, a sample must reflect the characteristics of the entire population.

• The questions must be fair and unbiased.

Is this a biased or unbiased question:

• Don’t you agree that President Bush did the right thing by sending U.S. troops into Iraq?

• Should President Bush have sent U.S. troops into Iraq?

• Do you agree or disagree with this statement: "There is a need for stricter gun laws."

• Since cigarettes are dangerous and have deadly side effects such as cancer wouldn't you agree that smoking should be controlled to save the lives of many?

Polls and Democracy• Some people believe polls support

democracy by allowing officials to keep in touch with citizens’ opinions on issues.

• Critics claim polling makes officials more concerned with following the public than in leading.

GALLUP POLL

Polls and Democracy• Many people worry that polls distort

elections.

• During campaigns, the media constantly report who is ahead at the moment, taking the focus off the issues. Real Clear Politics

• Also, some people may decide not to vote if they think the outcome has been determined.

To get a fairly accurate picture of public opinion, who should pollsters

include in their polls?

Review

The question of whether people support or oppose tax cuts falls under which feature of public opinion?

• A. stability

• B. unity

• C. direction

• D. intensity

How firmly people hold their views and how likely they are to change their opinions on a topic describes which feature of public opinion?

• A. stability

• B. direction

• C. intensity

• D. unity

A poor, elderly person who lives in a small town and supports more government social services programs is an example of which influence on a person’s public opinion?

• A. public officials • B. mass media• C. interest groups • D. personal background

Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, recordings, movies, and books are called

• A. mass media.

• B. electronic media.

• C. print media.

• D. white noise.

What term refers to the strength of opinion on a given issue?

• A. intensity

• C. purity

• B. stability

• D. direction

Most presidents employ a_______ whose job is to conduct polls regularly.

• A. poll bearer

• B. pollster

• C. poll sitter

• D. polity

A well-constructed poll question should be

• A. unbiased.

• C. stable.

• B. manipulated.

• D. biased.

THE MASS MEDIA(Section 2)

• The mass media influence politics and government.

• They also form a link between the people and elected officials.

• Newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and books are print media.

• Radio, television, and the Internet are electronic media.

Mass Media

• The media are businesses that operate for a profit.

• They run the news they think will attract the largest audience.

• Television is the most important medium for politics because it reaches the most people.

• However, print media provide deeper coverage.

Mass Media: The Internet

• Internet users can get information whenever they wish.

• They can also get more information than brief radio or television reports provide.

Why do media outlets run the news they think will attract the largest

audience?ANSWER: The media are private

businesses run to make a profit. The larger the audience they can attract, the more money they can charge for advertising.

Media’s Impact on Politics and Government

• The problems that receive the most time, money, and effort from government leaders make up the public agenda.

• The media have great influence on which problems governments consider important.

Media impact on Presidential Elections

• The modern media enable people with little political experience to run for office.

• The media can help or derail a candidates campaign.

Media and ElectionsDEAN SCREAM!

Elected Officials

• Elected officials and the press need one another, yet they often clash.

• Elected officials want the media to show them as hardworking, effective leaders.

• With the help of press secretaries, they hold news conferences, give interviews, and stage media events.

Leak! OOPS!?

• Officials may secretly pass on, or leak, information to friendly reporters.

• Leaks allow them to test public reaction before deciding whether to publicly move ahead with a proposal or to quietly drop it.

• Leaks benefit reporters by allowing them to report “inside” information.

Watchdog Role

• The mass media play a “watchdog” role.

• By exposing government misconduct, they serve both their interests and the public interest.

• Recently journalists have begun looking for scandal in officials’ private as well as public lives.

• Critics say this practice will drive good people out of politics.

Media and National Security• There is tension between

the American citizens’ need for information and the need for government to keep secrets to protect national security.

• The government can control information the media report by classifying it as secret and limiting coverage of military actions.

Protecting the Media• Democracy requires a free flow of information

and ideas.• The First Amendment protects freedom of the

press, which today includes all media. • The Supreme Court has ruled that freedom of

the press includes freedom from prior restraint, or government censorship of material before it is published.

• Journalists can report what they want, even if it is unpopular or embarrassing to officials.

Protecting the Media

• Freedom of the press does not allow reporters to publish false information that will harm someone’s reputation. This is libel.

• The Supreme Court ruled that to win a libel suit, public officials must prove malice–that the publisher knew the material was false or showed reckless disregard for the truth.

Protecting the Media• The government has the power to decide

who gets access to the limited number of airwaves available for radio and television broadcasting.

• The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cannot censor broadcasts, but it can penalize stations that violate its rules.

Review

Professional media assistants who hold news conferences and give interviews on behalf of elected officials are referred to as

• A. press secretaries.

• B. public reporters.

• C. media officials.

• D. broadcast journalists.

The most important medium for American politics that is in 98 percent of American homes is the

A. radio.

B. newspaper.

C. television.

D. Internet.

Elected officials sometimes information to the press to test public reaction to an idea or policy.

• A. falsify

• B. skew

• C. leak

• D. dump

The mass media plays an important_______ role by exposing government misconduct.

• A. leak

• B. spotlight

• C. intelligence

• D. watchdog

Interest Groups(Section 3)

• Interest groups form to promote a shared viewpoint.

• By pooling their resources, members can increase their chances of influencing decision makers.

• The First Amendment protects the right to belong to interest groups by guaranteeing the right to assemble peacefully and to petition the government.

Economic Interest Groups• Groups based on economic interests are

some of the most powerful.

• The Chamber of Commerce, one of the largest, promotes free enterprise.

• Others, such as the Tobacco Institute, represent specific types of businesses.

Economic Interest Groups

• Labor unions work for the economic interests of workers.

• The largest, the AFL-CIO, is an alliance of labor unions.

• Professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, have their own interest groups.

Other Interest Groups

• People have also organized to promote an ethnic group (the NAACP, for example), age group (AARP), or gender (NOW).

• Interest groups also work for special causes, such as protecting nature (the Sierra Club).

Public Interest Groups

• Public interest groups support causes that affect the lives of Americans in general, rather than just the special interests of their own members.

• For example, Common Cause promotes laws to control pollution and protect consumers.

Influencing Government

• Public policy is the course of action the government takes in response to an issue or problem.

• The primary goal of interest groups is to influence public policy.

Election Activities

• Interest groups back candidates who agree with their beliefs.

• Many form political action committees (PACs) that use money from members to support candidates.

Going to Court!

• Interest groups also try to influence public policy by bringing court cases

• A group may use the courts to argue that a law or government policy is unconstitutional.

Lobbyist

• Lobbyists are representatives of interest groups who contact government officials directly to influence their policy making.

• Lobbyists understand how government functions.

• They know where to go and whom to see.

• They know how to make friends and talk persuasively.

Why might a lawmaker want to interact with a lobbyist?

• Lawmakers need information about issues. Lobbyists supply it.

• They suggest solutions to problems.

• They sometimes draft bills for lawmakers to consider and testify in hearings on bills.

• Once laws are enacted, lobbyists help to see that the laws are carried out, enforced, and stand up in court.

Regulation on Interest Groups

• Laws regulate the activities of interest groups to prevent abuses, such as winning lawmakers’ votes by offering fancy meals and gifts.

Regulation

• The Federal Election Campaign Act limits the amount PACs may contribute to candidates for national office.

• The Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act requires lobbyists to register and to disclose who hired them, how much they are paid, and how they spend money related to their work.

Regulation

• These laws are not very effective.

• They apply only to people who spend most of their time lobbying.

• Also, the laws provide no means of enforcement.

Regulation

• Laws require a waiting period before former government officials can become lobbyists.

• The purpose is to prevent ex-public officials from taking unfair advantage of their insider knowledge and friendships on behalf of interest groups.

• These laws have also proved inadequate.

Regulation

• Critics claim that campaign contributions give interest groups improper influence over officeholders.

• Others point out that membership in interest groups with skilled lobbyists give citizens a way to increase their influence.

Techniques of Interest Groups

• All interest groups want to influence public opinion both to increase their memberships and to convince people of the rightness of their cause.

• Many use direct mail to recruit members.

• They target potential members by using subscriber or membership mailing lists from magazines or groups with similar views.

Techniques of Interest Groups

• Interest groups advertise on radio and television.

• They may organize protests or public events to get media coverage.

• To promote their views, interest groups may use propaganda techniques such as endorsements, card stacking, the bandwagon, glittering generalities, symbols, “just plain folks,” and name-calling.

Review

_________ groups support causes that affect the lives of Americans

• in general.

• A. Economic interest

• B. Public interest

• C. Watchdog

• D. Mass media

• The idea of the appeal is to make people think a candidate is just like them.

• A. bandwagon

• B. endorsement

• C. plain-folks

• D. aw-shucks

The technique is an attempt to turn people against a candidate or idea by using an unpleasant label or description.

• A. endorsement

• B. name-calling

• C. bandwagon

• D. glittering generality

Which propaganda technique uses statements that sound good but are essentially meaningless?

• A. endorsements

• B. stacked cards

• C. glittering generalities

• D. just plain folks

Which propaganda technique presents only one side of the issue, often by distorting facts?

• A. symbols

• B. the bandwagon

• C. name-calling

• D. stacked cards

• One of the lobbyist’s most important resources is

• A. information.

• B. good public relations.

• C. political contacts.

• D. public support.